High 5 for Harvard’s Stewart

Harvard quarterback Tom Stewart highlighted an inspired Senior Day performance with five touchdown passes to spark a 52-18 Crimson victory over injury-plagued Columbia at Harvard Stadium.

Facing a steady 20 mph-plus wind with gusts up to 50 late in the game, Stewart did his best work early, engineering three drives totalling five plays that resulted in 21 points. The Dallas native completed 15-of-26 passes for 393 yards and five thrown to four different receivers, including a pair to senior Henry Taylor.

“The wind wasn’t too bad in the first half. We try for big plays anytime we can get them. It was part of the game plan and we just did a good job of executing,’’ Stewart said.

Harvard has beaten Columbia in 15 straight game and leads the series, 62-14-1.

“That was a clunker. I’ll take the blame for it,’’ said legendary Lions coach Al Bagnoli, who is 0-for-4 against Harvard at Columbia.

A penalty on the opening kickoff forced Harvard to start at its 8-yard line but it didn’t prove to be a problem. On the first play, Stewart found junior Jack Cook for a perfectly executed 92-yard score. It was the longest touchdown pass in Harvard football’s 145-year history.

The next time Harvard (4-4, 2-3 Ivy) had possession, Stewart hooked up with sophomore Tyler Adams for a 75-yard touchdown.

After a 29-yard Columbia field goal, Stewart found Aaron Shampklin for a pass in the flat and the speedy back simply outran defensive end Cooper Wilson for a 74-yard score.

Columbia would get into the end zone after a 23-yard reverse pass accompanied by a roughing the passer call put the ball on the Harvard 3-yard-line. Wide receiver Kyle Castner, a former quarterback, dove over the pile from 2-yards out two plays later for the score. A bobbled snap negated the extra point try.

With 29 seconds left in the half, Stewart went back to work, hitting Taylor for a 16-yard touchdown and a 28-12, lead.

Harvard had things under control early in the third quarter when sophomore Aaron Shampklin (22 carries for 92 yards), who leads the Ivies in rushing, burst through for a 6-yard score.

After a Harvard safety resuting from a bad fourth-down snap, Lions freshman quarterback Ty Lenhart (20-of-39 for 203 yards) connected with Kalbe Pitts for a 20-yard TD to give the Lions a flicker of hope, down 37-18.

But Stewart would find Taylor for a 10-yard score and senior Charlie Booker ran 34 yards for his first TD of the season to extend the Harvard lead. A botched snap on the PAT try saw Crimson senior tight end Cecil Williams recover in the end zone for a weird 2-point conversion that completed Harvard’s mauling of the Lions.